Advancing Open Science: Key Insights from Finland’s National Pilot at the 2024 Open Science and Research Summer Conference
The Open Science and Research Summer Conference organised in Finland at Aalto University on 3-4 June 2024 provided an excellent occasion for discussing and showcasing initiatives that drive the Open Science movement forward. It offered also the opportunity to present the National Pilot in Finland for the OSTrails project. This presentation highlighted the strides Finland is making toward enhancing research data management through the development of machine-actionable Data Management Plans (maDMPs).
An Engaged and Diverse Audience
The presentation was attended by an engaging audience, with over 90 participants physically present and more than 90 joining online. The participants included some 60% from universities, 10% from universities of applied sciences and research institutes, and 20% from other organizations. This gave an excellent opportunity to communicate about the project's relevance across different sectors of the research community and to invite stakeholders to join in its co-creation.
Key Objectives and Benefits
Finland's national pilot focuses on transforming Data Management Plans from static documents into dynamic, interconnected resources. This shift aims to make DMPs the preferred tool for assessing and improving research data management (RDM) quality. The core idea of maDMPs is to reduce the administrative burden on researchers by requiring data input only once. This information can then be used across various applications for funding and research services through API integrations. Key identifiers like ORCID, DOIs, and PIDs play a critical role in this system. Ideally, as researchers update their DMPs, these changes could automatically trigger updates in other systems, enhancing the efficiency and coherence of data management processes. Fundamentally, the focus is on the interoperability of the systems of the research ecosystem.
